User:Shaunkellam/sandbox

Introduction
Paul Kellam (Born 13th September 1965) is the Virus Genomics team leader and is a Professor of Viral Pathogenesis at University College London. Paul's laboratory investigates genetic variation of viruses and the host organisms they infect to understand host-virus interactions and the functional consequences on virus pathogenesis.

Achievements: Paul is internationally renowned for his research on human host-virus interactions. He interacts widely with infectious disease specialists throughout the world, and is a key contributor to the MOSAIC consortium studying the pathogenesis of pandemic influenza. His work on HIV anti- retroviral drug resistance in patients and in vitro laid the foundations for the genotypic prognostic tests which clinicians now rely and he discovered IFITM3's role in influencing human susceptibility to influenza.

Accomplishments: Paul made important early contributions to our understanding of how resistance to HIV drugs emerged after their introduction, while working in industry at Burroughs-Wellcome. Since then, Paul has made striking contributions to understanding the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic by using elegant phylogenetic analysis to define multiple entries of different H1N1 sub-clades into UK. Even more remarkable, he identified the first major human gene polymorphism affecting influenza severity in IFITM3 (which affects virus entry into cells via acidic endosomes), identifying alleles that determine whether infected persons have mild symptoms or become seriously ill. His identification IFITM3 stands as the only example of a human gene polymorphism affecting the clinical outcome to influenza infection, and it was rapidly confirmed throughout the world. Paul’s laboratory produced the genome analysis of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS CoV) outbreaks in Saudi Arabiar evealing that MERS arose by multiple transfer events from an animal reservoir, contributing to the identification of the precursor virus in camels. He is currently investigating Ebola virus-host interplay with the same verve, versatility and ability to collaborate fruitfully with clinical colleagues and epidemiologists, and he will significantly contribute to the Academy. Paul’s research in determining the genetics of virus and human interactions is now being extended into understanding human B cell immune sequence repertoires in health and disease. Paul is without doubt at the international forefront of using host and microbe genetics in understanding and treating infectious diseases.

Background
In 2009 Paul established the Virus Genomics laboratory at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute to investigate genetic variation of host and virus in infectious diseases. At the Sanger Institute Paul’s laboratory identified the first influenza disease severity determining allele, in the human gene IFITM3 in people hospitalised with pandemic influenza A H1N1 and stands as the only example of a characterised human gene polymorphism affecting the clinical outcome to infection by influenza. Paul’s laboratory analysed Influenza A H1N1/09pdm genetic diversity in the initially months of the pandemic in the UK and Paul’s laboratory produced the majority of the initial genome analysis of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS CoV) outbreaks in Saudi Arabia. Analysis of MERS CoV sequences showed that the transmission pattern of MERS CoV was consistent with multiple transfer events from an animal reservoir and contributing to the identification of MERS CoV in camels. Recently, Paul’s lab contributed to Ebola virus genome sequencing in Sierra Leone and the utilisation of the data to inform infection control with the WHO.

Paul’s career has spanned the pharmaceutical company and academic research. At the Wellcome Foundation Ltd, Paul’s research on HIV-1 drug resistance identified one of the essential reverse transcriptase (RT) mutations conferring resistance to zidovudine (AZT) and this identified how the development of multiple mutations lead to high-level resistance to antiviral drug regimes. Paul’s work also showed the stepwise accumulation of AZT resistance mutants in patients and determined that retroviral recombination resulted in the genetic linkage of mutations conferring high-level drug resistance. Importantly, this work contributed directly to the adoption of DNA sequencing to support HIV-1 drug therapy choices and to a novel HIV-1 phenotyping assay commercialised by Tibotec-Virco (Antivirogram) and ViroLogic (PhenoSense).

In 1996 Paul joined Robin Weiss’s laboratory as a Cancer Research Campaign Fellow, to work on Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV). Paul’s KSHV research identified the virus Latent Nuclear Antigen (LANA) and developed a monoclonal antibody to LANA that is used for the identification of KSHV latently infected cells. This antibody was used to show that KSHV is associated with all forms of Kaposi’s sarcoma, Primary Effusion Lymphoma (PEL) and a plasmablastic variant of Multicentric Castleman’s disease. Paul’s laboratory developed the first KSHV gene expression microarray to explore KSHV lytic replication, and pioneered the use of virus bioinformatics and host gene expression arrays to characterise herpesvirus driven B-cell tumours. This identified the B-cell differentiation transcription factor, X-box binding protein-1 (XBP-1) as the host transcription factor that switches KSHV from latency to the virus lytic cycle.

Vice President of Infectious Diseases Kymab Ltd January 2016 – Present (4 months) Cambridge, United Kingdom

Virus Genomics Team Leader Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute January 2009 – Present (7 years 4 months) The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Professor of Virus Pathogenesis University College London January 2009 – Present (7 years 4 months) UCL

Education
University of London Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Virology 1990 – 1994 Thesis: HIV drug resistance

University of Reading Bachelor of Science (BSc), Microbiology, General, 2i 1984 – 1987

Oakwood Park Grammar School 1979 – 1984

Awards and Honours
Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology American Society for Microbiology July 2015

Paul is married and has 3 children. Shaun, 22, Daniel, 22 and Aisling, 9